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Thursday, May 26, 2016

It was 2012. My twenty-first birthday was slowly approaching. I carefully picked a pink dress and a got a haircut I regretted for weeks. It was just around four years but it indeed feels like a distant time with everything different. I was a different person too.

It was a significant year of my life. I was graduating, I had a couple of college admissions in hand, I was yet to take up my first job and I was highly indecisive about what to do with my life. I was not willing to settle down for mediocrity but my twenty-first year was just about that -- settling for mediocrity - in terms of love, life, friendships, and more importantly, the career.

It is 2016. My twenty-fifth birthday is fast approaching. I carefully picked a lot of dresses this year and was wise enough not to get a haircut like every birthday. I'm such a different person now. From choosing mediocrity to fighting adamantly for what I truly believe in, I sure have evolved into a person that was alien to my twenty-one-year-old self.

At twenty-one, I was largely apprehensive about the new path of life, bigger responsibilities, and tougher challenges. I was worried that I was growing older and that the best years of my life were simply behind me. Now, what can I say about turning twenty-five? Four years older, wiser and with more feathers in my hat, should I be more worried that I am soon hitting the later years of the twenties and life is just never going to be the same again? But why do I feel like the best days of my life are right ahead of me? That they are beckoning me with sweet promises and bitter miseries. All of it would still be worth it, though. Won’t it?

When I was a child, I was told sternly that time does not stop for anyone. Sure, I believed it for a lot of years only to realize that the myth could be altered. Time would stop, walk, and run with you only if you value it as much as you value yourself. If only you grow along with it.

Now I know that being twenty-five isn't being old. There is so much to see. So much to learn. So much to live. And not to forget, there is so much time.

At this point, however, I'd like to worry about the birthday dress that a certain someone picked for me. It doesn't zip up well, but I am completely in awe of it. Oh, the little curveballs life throws at us in the middle of happy realizations and moments!

Friday, May 13, 2016

The longest and most productive weeks are often the ones that breeze past us in a jiffy. You cannot fathom when the week begins and ends. And all of it in the blink of an eye. When I was a lot younger, I always assumed that when I'd finally do a job I love, time would stall. I figured that I would be able to taste every moment of it just the way I enjoy my cup of coffee. Funnily I also believed that the job I love would come only with the choicest of work that suits my interests. You assume a lot of things when you are young, don't you?

Lately, a minor part work that's coming my way doesn't interest me and maybe, just maybe, it's largely influencing the paramount of work that I otherwise enjoy.

So, what's this all about? When you finally take up a job you love, do you generally expect it to be brilliant on all days alike? Do you always hope that it comes in the form that is acceptable to you and only to you? I mean, I always hoped for it -- especially because I could be quite rigid and adamant when it comes to doing anything that doesn't thrill me. It might seem to be an awfully painful experience to convince me to write something I hate. Something I don't want to be associated with. Something that tests my patience even during a good night sleep. And more importantly, something that pushes me out of my comfort zone.

It just does not work that way.

The slightly older, almost 25-year-old version of me definitely knows that even the things you love come with a lot of flaws. Just like how your favourite triple chocolate sundae comes with a bad case of cold. You still savour it. You still crave it.

That's exactly the thing about growing up. Despite knowing that it comes with cons, you still adore it.

It is said that best friends are exactly alike. Birds of a feather. Two minds thinking as one. Funnily enough, my best friend and I are strikingly opposite in myriad ways. While she has a big smile wrapped on her face forever, I could be grumpy often. While she is up for all the fun things, I am found to be rather unwavering about the kind of fun I want to have. Despite the several differences, we both have our share of common space where our thoughts meet the way Sun meets the horizon. We are happy with just that. We are extremely happy with sharing silence on our drives back home or indulge ourselves in weird banter at highly loud places. She does not mind when I fall asleep early during our sleepovers. Always. I do it always - as if it's a ritual. And I don't get annoyed (Or maybe I do) when she arrives late every time we make plans. Nevertheless, she does it. We aren't the sort who break our rituals and habits. They die hard.

The previous week was particularly eventful. My best friend got married and obviously, it was one of the most emotional moments for me. To look at her stunning face and the joy written all over it. To see her so happy, giggling like a schoolgirl, resembling the girl I met eight years ago. We have been friends for a long time now and as I look back, I am surprised at the amount of things we have done together or the number of places we have been to. We have explored our way through college and the first rush of internships, we have ventured into our first jobs together and invested in many mindless things aimlessly. We spent too much, we felt too much, we cared too much and broke ourselves too much. But we always found each other in the worst situations too. I told you, it's a colossal amount.

Being friends with someone for eight years comes with a lot of pros and cons - your best friend slowly turns into your family, and when that truly happens, you turn fiercely protective of them. Often imagining that their wedding would result in a dramatic separation from you. Fun fact: It's not true. Sure, you might weep some nights wondering if your best friend is going to fly away from you and you eat tubs of ice-cream hoping you'd soon get used to doing things alone, but they'll only remind you that be it something as silly as eating cookies and cream ice-cream or ranting about the love of your life, you'll find them right beside you. Inevitably.

And finally, my best friend, you know who you are. Because you are the only one. Thank you for being such a lovely friend, and as you walk this new path with your certain someone, I cannot be happier for you. We have seen so much together and there is a long way to go. I love you and you matter so much to me, but more importantly, I want you to know that you complete me.